I don't have much experience with IBM hardware, much less Aptivas specifically.

However, I did find a vendor on eBay selling the same motherboard pulled from your model Aptiva for $18 apiece. It may make sense to buy a spare if you're committed to keeping the system OEM-legit. Having a spare would also allow you to compare the health of the caps and/or the version of BIOS.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-APTIVA-2174-AMD-M … 9-/371223084396

Thanks QBiN. I did save that in my "Watch List" but was hoping to save a few buck and increase stability with a BIOS update. Perhaps the board is bad though, and this is cheap enough I suppose. Thanks!

Just a quick update - I did pick up the replacement New-Old-Stock motherboard on eBay and it's working flawlessly - even has a newer BIOS from 2000. So right now the little Aptiva I rescued and cleaned up is running:

550Mhz Slot A Athlon Classic
128MB Micron PC-100 Memory
32GB CF Card
3DFX Voodoo3 (Compaq OEM - 183Mhz)
AMD 571 AGP GART Driver 1.45
Ensoniq AudioPCI / Sound Blaster PCI 128
3COM 10/100 NIC

It's stable as hell in Win98 SE, and the Voodoo3 is working great in here. Been playing MDK, Unreal, Unreal Tournament, PowerSlide, NFS III High Stakes, NFS IV Hot Pursuit, Incoming, Expendable, Forsaken, Rollcage, SiN, Star Wars - Episode 1: Racer, Quake 1-3, and some other goodies this last weekend.

Good stuff! I still may throw a faster Slot A processor in there - at least a 750Mhz or faster - ideally an 850Mhz-950Mhz but those "classic" Athlon's are much harder to find for a decent price. I was hoping to use my newly-acquired Thermaltake Golden Orb Slot A cooler, but the overall height of the cooler and metal clips actually rub against the power supply in the chassis, so it's a no-go.

Going to necro this post to contact the author... what was the actual BIOS version that you ended up getting for the S30 board? I've got the exact same board but even though it has an AMD 751 Northbridge it won't support my 850MHz Thunderbird. I believe my older BIOS S30EN0V is what is to blame. Thanks for the potential help!

Aptiva archive (BIOSes, drivers, manuals):http://ps-2.kev009.com/pccbbs/aptiva/
Direct link for S30EN2Q BIOS: http://ps-2.kev009.com/pccbbs/aptiva/asjt00a.exe

Unfortunately, I have Irongate Rev. C stepping 4 in my Aptiva mobo, so I can't speed it up by Super Bypass.

I recently acquired Aptiva 2151-94D that is not listed in links above.

Specs:
Acer S30 board (AMD 756AC)
Athlon 550Mhz Slot A
BIOS: S30EN2D (10/21/99)

I would be grateful If anybody can share link(s) to resources regarding this model.